Tunneling machine



Jul 8 1924.

G. MILLER TUNNELING MACHINE Filed Jan. 17. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l G.MILLER TUNNELING MACHINE July 8 1924.

Filed Jan. 17 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a Gui cry 77/194 Patented July 8,1924.

PATENT OFF ICE.

GUTTOBM MILLER, or ,GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK;

TUNNELING MACHINE.

Application filed January 17, 1921. Serial No. 437,776.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUTTORM MILLER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Glens Falls, in the county of lVarren and State ofNew York, have invented eertain new and useful Improvements in TunnelingMachines, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

The digging of bores of trunk sewers and other tunnels is an arduoustask and requires the work of expert miners where the work is done byhand. Machines have been devised for doing such work but they usuallyembody a rotary member having knives or similar cutting means whichrequire high power to operate the same, and such machines are thereforeso very heavy and bulky that they cannot be moved about with facilityand they practically fill the space within the end of the tunnel orbore, obstructing the work of removing the detached earth and themanipulation of the machine.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine for the purposewhich is simple and compact in its constructionand of such dimensionsand Weight as to be readily manipulated and to take up a minimum ofspace.

A further object is to provide a novel and efiicient means for severingor cutting away the earth to advance the boreof the tunnel and toprovide ,a construction wherein the. machine comprises such cutting andsevering means, together with power means for operatmg the same, wherebya self contained unit is provided which may be readily adjusted,manipulated, and handled withinthe limited space of the tunnelbore.

A further object is to provide means for severing or cutting away theearth,-which means requires a minimum of power to operate the same, ispositive in its action, and is such that stones or other obstructionsen,- countered in the operation of the machine will offer a minimurnofinterference withv its progress.

It is alsoan object of the invention to provide a machine for-thepurpose having certain other new and useful features in the constructionand arrangement of parts, all

as hereinafter more fully set forth.

\Vith the above and other ends n view, the invention consists inthe'matters hereinafter. set forth andmore particularly pointed out inthe appended claims, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,in which-'- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine illustrative ofthe invention, and showing the same inoperative position within the end.of the bore of a tunnel, and

Fig.2 is an end elevation of the same showing the tunnel in transversesection.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the bore of the tunnel in the earth and 2the usual lining of concrete or other material. 3 indicates the end wallof earth'at the end of the tunnel bore which is to be cut away inadvancing the bore, and themachine for cutting away this end wall'ofearthis supported axially of the bore upon a stationary shaft or tube 4mounted in suitable bearings 5 carriedby transverse supporting bars'6arranged transversely of the bore and supported therein by suitableblocks 7 engaging the lining of the tunnel and in turn engaged bysuitable'jacks 8 carried by the ends ofthe supporting bars. Adjustingscrews 9 and 10 carried by the bars 6 and bearings '5 respectively,engage opposite sidesof the tube or shafts for the purpose of adjustingsaid shaft within its bearings and for holding said shaft againstrotation.

A suitably trussed frame 11 is provided ntermediate its ends with abearing sleeve [12 adapted to be sleeved upon the shaft 4 and to turnfreely thereon. 'Mounted upon one end of the frame 11 is'a suitableelectric motor 13 and power is transmitted from this motor by means ,ofa belt 14 to a pulley 15mounted in suitable bearingbrackets 16 which areadjustable longitudinally upon the frame adjacent the'bearing sleeve 12.Upon the shaft 17 ofthe pulley 15,'is'secured a sheave 18 having aplurality of grooves to receive the turns of a Wire cable 19 whichpasses from the sheave 18 to the sheave 20 .mounted on a shaft 21carried in brackets 22 upon the extremeouter end of the frame 11 at theend thereof opposite that upon which the motor 13 is mounted. and 20 areprovided with a double groove and the cable 19 is given a double wraparound these pulleys, that is, the cable passes from the pulley 18 tothe pulley 20, over said p y and ba k to e p ll y 18,. r 1 nd t i pulleyand then back again tothe' pulley 20.

From the pulley 20 the cable is'led laterally of the frame or in thedireetion of advance of the machine in its operation, to rat pulley Thesheaves 18 or sheave23 mounted within a suitable'hol low bracket arm 24which projects forwardly from the end of the frame'll. This bracket arm24, forms a casing to enclose the sheave 23 and the run of the cable inpassing to and over this sheave.

From the sheave 23 the cable 19 leads to a similar sheave mounted torotate freely within a chamber provided therefor by an enlargement ofthe forward end of the bearing sleeve 12, said chamber or enlargement 26for the sheave being formed at one side of the sleeve 12 so that theshaft 4 may pass through the sleeve and have a bearing thereinthroughout the length of the sleeve. From the shaft 25 the cable 19passes back to the sheave 18, the cable being endless to 7 provide acontinuous travel of the cab-1e over the several sheaves, with the run27 of the cable between the sheaves 23 and in advance of the frame 11 inthe direct-ion of the progress of the machine in cutting away the earthat the end of the tunnel bore. Slack in this cable is taken up byadjusting the brackets 16 on the frame by means of adjusting screws 36,so that the run 27 of the cable will always be taut.

Secured upon the ends of the shaft 21 of the sheave 20 are worm gears 28in mesh with like gears 29 upon the ends of spaced parallel shaftsmounted in bearings 31 on the end of the frame 11 and extendinglaterally of the frame forwardly in the direction of progress of themachine. Secured upon the forward end of each shaft 30 is a cutter head32 provided with a series of laterally extending knives 33 arranged inlongitudinal rows with the knives of one row in staggered relation tothose of adjacent rows. Rotary cutter heads are therefore provided, oneat each side of the sheave 23, to bore into and cut away the earth atthe circumference of the tunnel bore, said cutter heads being forcedlongitudinally into the wall of earth by an advancing movement of themachine, or the sliding of the supporting frame 11 longitudinally of itssupporting shaft 1. The transverse bars 6 forming the supports for thesupporting shaft 4 are positioned rearwardl'y of the frame 11 and toform a support and guide for the forward end of the shaft and sleeve 12,said shaft is provided with a boring or cutting member 3% on its forwardend to bore into the earth in advance of the tunnel bore and thus forman axial opening or chamber in advance of the tunnel bore and in exactlongitudinal axial alignment therewith to receive the forward end of thesupporting or bearing sleeve 12 of the frame 11.

In mounting the machine in operative position within the tunnel bore,the supporting bars 6 are first placed in position at any suitabledistance apart to form a rigid support for the supporting shaft 4 whichis then placed within the bearings 5 with the machine mounted thereon.The shaft at is then properly aligned with the axis of the tunnel boreand by any suitable means (not shown) applied to the rear end of saidshaft, the same is turned in its bearings to drive the boring toolcarried by its forward end, into the wall of earth at the end of thetunnel bore. After this boring tool has been driven in a sufficientdistance to provide a desired length of axial bore 35, the extremeforward end of the sleeve 12 is entered into this bore by sliding theframe of the machine longitudinally of the supporting shaft 4. The setscrews 9 and 10 are then turned up to hold the shaft at against turningwithin its bearings and the motor 13 is started by turning on the.electric current which is supplied in any suitable manner, as by a cable(not shown).

Motion is transmitted from the motor to drive the driving sheave 18 andthus a continuous endwise travel of the cable 19 over the severalsheaves is effected. This cable in passing over the sheave 20 transmitsmotion to the shaft 21 and thence through the worm gears 28 and 29drives the shafts 30 and causes a rapid rotation of the two parallelcutter heads 32. \Vith the cable traveling continuously over its sheaveand the cutter heads in rapid rotation, the machine, as a whole, isadvanced toward the wall 3 of earth by moving-the frame endwise of itssup porting shaft 4: in any suitable manner until the cutter heads 32and the cutting run 27 of the cable have out their way into the wall ofearth to the desired depth. The forward advance of the machine is thenstopped and the machine as a whole is rotated upon the supporting shaft4:, a slow rotary mo tion being imparted to the frame in any suitablemanner, as by manual'power or otherwise. This rotation of the frame canries the cutting run 27 of the cable and the 1 cutter heads laterally,thus causing the out ter heads to cut a circumferential groove in thewall 3 of earth at the periphery of the tunnel bore, and the run of thecable 27, which extends from the center bore 35 radially outward to thecircumferential channel formed by the cutters 32, severing a disk orslab of'earth from the wall 3 as the machine is swung upon thesupporting shaft 4;.

As indicated in the drawings, the starting position or the position inwhich the ma chine will be preferably advanced to enter the cutter heads32 and cutting run 27 of the cable initially into the wall 3 of earth,will be with the machine in a substantially. vertical position with saidcutter heads at the lower side of the tunnel bore. The machine will thenbe swung from this position in either direction until the machine hasagain reached the vertical with the cutter heads at the upper side ofthe tunnel. The

machine will then preferably be swung back to the original positionshown in the drawings and then will be swung from that position in a,direction opposite to that in which it has just previously been swung,to cut away the semi-circular slab of earth at the other side of thetunnel bore. Therefore the slab of earth as it is cut away from the wall3 will fall downwardly clear of the machine, the machineswinging-upwardly from the lower side of the tunnel. As the travelingcable which severs the earth from the wall of the tunnel is continuouslycaused to travel endwise as the-machine is swung about the longitudinalaxis of the tunnel bore, the cutting run 27 of said cable will readilycut its way through the earth and any ordinary obstruction, such as astone of comparatively small size will not interfere with the advance ofthe cable, said run either pushing the construction out of the way orcutting its way through it, and as the frame 11, upon which the entiremechanism of the machine is mounted, is comparatively narrow, a widespace is provided within the tunnel bore at each side of the frame forthe removal of the earth which is being cut away. Further, as butcomparatively little power is required to drive the cable and cutterheads 32, an electric motor of comparatively light weight may be mounteddirectly upon the machine frame and as all parts of the machine aremounted directly upon this frame, said machine may be quickly and easilyremoved as a unit should there be any occasion for doing so, such as incase of a cave-in or where a large rock or similar obstruction is en--countered.

The unitary structure of the machinewhich makes the same extremelymobile is a particular feature of the construction, and further, themeans for cutting away the earth consisting of an endless travelingcable which will require but little power to operate and will cut awaythe earth much faster and in a more convenient form than the commoncutting knives or similar devices, is a particularly new and usefulfeature of the present invention.

The cable 19 may be utilized to transmit motion for driving the cutterheads32, as illustrated, or these cutter heads may be driven in anysuitable manner, and other changes in the construction, arrangement andcombination of parts may be made within the scope of the appended claimswithout departing from the spirit of my invention. V a

What I claim is 1. A tunneling machine including a plain endless cablehaving a free run forming a cutter for severing portions of the earthwall at the end of a tunnel bore, means for holding taut said cuttingrun of the cable earth from said wall during its cutting travel, andmeans for causing :an endwise traveling movement of said cable.

2. .A tunneling machineincluding a cutter means for operating saidcutter, and endless traveling means having a cutting run thereof movablein a plane transverse to the lon-' gitudinal axis ofthe tunnel bore forsevering between said channel and, bore axis.

. 3; .A tunneling machine including a cutter for. forming acircumferential channel in the wall ofrearth .at the end of the channelbore, a supportingimember for said cutter rotatable about an axiscoincident with'the tunnel axis, means for operating said cutter,

and a continuously longitudinally movable member extending substantiallyradial of the bore axis and carried by said rotatable supporting member,for cutting away the earth wall inwardly from said channel duringrotation of said supporting member about the tunnel axis. f

4:. In a'tunneling machine, the combina tion of a framerotatively'mounted to turn upon an axis co-incident with the axis of atunnel bore, a cutter carried by said frame for cutting acircumferential channel in the earth wall at the end of the bore, andmeans carried by the frame and extending from within said channel tosubstantially the axis of the bore for severing the earth wall ina planetransverse to the tunnel bore axis'during the turning of said frame uponits axis of rotation.

5. In a tunneling machine, the combination of a frame, means forsupporting said;

frame co-incidentwith the axis of a tunnel bore for rotative andlongitudinal movement, an endless cable, pulleys on said frame (overwhich the cable passes with a free run the longitudinal axis of atunnelbore for.

rotative movement about the and longitudinally thereof, a plain endlesstraveling wire cable on said frame having a cutting run extending in adirection substantially radial of the tunnel bore, and

bore a-xis means on the frame for imparting a continuous endwisetravelling movement tosaid cutting member. or

7. In a tunneling machine, the combina tion of a frame, means forsupporting said frame co-incident with the longitudinal axis of a tunnelbore for rotative and longitudinal movement, a cutter on the frame forforming a peripheral groove in the earth wall at the end of the tunnelbore, an endless traveling cutting member having a cutting run forsevering said earth wall inwardly from said groove toward the tunnelbore axis in a plane transverse to said axis upon movable thereon, arotatable cutter carried by said frame at one end thereof for forming aperipheral groove in the earth wall at the end of the tunnel bore, an.endless traveling member having a cutting portion for severing the earthwall between said groove and tunnel bore axis upon rotation of saidframe, guiding and carrying means on said frame for said endless member,and power means on the frame for driving the endless member and thecutter.

9. In a tunneling machine, the combination of a supporting shaft, meansfor supporting said shaft coincident with the longitudinal axis of atunnel bore, a frame mounted upon said shaft for rotative andlongitudinal movement thereon, said frame extending laterally from saidshaft in opposite directions, means carried by one end of said frame forsevering the earth wall at the end of the tunnel bore upon relativemovement of said frame, and a motor mounted upon the opposite end ofsaid frame for driving said cutting means, whereby the weight of saidmotor counter-balances said cutting means during the rotation of. saidframe.

10. In a tunneling machine, the combination of a supporting shaft, meansfor supporting said shaft coincident with the longitudinal axis of atunnel bore, a frame mounted upon said shaft for longitudinal androtative movement thereon, a pair of rotative cutters mounted upon oneend of said frame for forming a peripheral groove in the end wall of thetunnel bore, a plurality of guide pulleys mounted upon the frame, aflexible endless member engaging said pulleys and having a portionextending inwardlyfrom between the rotative cutters toward thesupporting shaft for severing the earth wall between the peripheralgroove and the tunnel bore axis, and means for causing an endwisetraveling movement of said endless member.

11. In a tunneling machine, the combination of a supporting shaft, meansfor supporting said shaft coincident with the longitudinal axis of atunnel bore, a frame mounted on said shaft for rotative and longitudinalmovement thereon, a pair of rotatable cutters mounted upon said frame atone end thereof for forming a peripheral groove in the earth wall in theend of a tunnel bore, a plurality of guide pulleys mounted on saidframe, a flexible endless traveling guide member engaging said pulleys,certain of said pulleys being positioned to provide a cutting run of theendless member in advance of said frame and extending from a pointbetween the rotative cutters of said pair inwardly toward said shaft tosever the earth wall between said peripheral groove and the tunnel boreaxis, and power means mounted upon said frame for driving said endlesscutting means and said cutters.

12. In a tunneling machine, the combination of a supporting shaft, meansfor supporting said shaft coincident with the axis of'a tunnel bore, aframe mounted on said shaft for rotative and longitudinal movementthereon and extending transversely of the shaft in opposite directionstherefrom, a pair of rotative cutters mounted at one end of said frame,pulleys mounted upon the frame between said cutters, pulleys mountedupon the frame adjacent said shaft, an endless flexible cutting memberengaging said Julle s earim for transmittin motion to.

7 b D b said pair of cutters, a motor mounted on said frame at the endthereof opposite that upon which the pair of cutters is mounted, andmeans for transmitting motion from said motor to rotate said pair ofcutters and to cause a continuous endwise traveling movement of saidflexible cutter.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

I GUTTORM MILLER.

WVitnesses ELIJAH AMEs LITTLE, ANDREW C. FIoKEs,

